NEWLY-CROWNED British cycling champion Joe Nally said he “never imagined” winning a gold medal at the National Track Championships.

The talented teen cyclist competed alongside some of the sport’s biggest stars in Manchester at the weekend and produced two superb rides to claim victory in the men’s points race and a bronze in the team pursuit.

Some of those competing included Olympic champion Katie Archibald and in the second day of competition Nally, from Charlestown, sprinted clear of Ethan Hayter and Zachery May to win a thrilling points event and he admitted that only when he saw his name confirmed on the scoreboard as the winner did the achievement begin to sink in.

The British Cycling Junior Academy star followed that up on Sunday by finishing third in the team sprint alongside team-mates Andy Brown, Angus Claxton and Evan Oliphant, and he told Press Sport: “It was a bit of a shock because I wasn’t really focusing on it as I’ve just come to the end of a big block of training.

“I expected us to be in with a chance in the team pursuit because I’ve been training with the guys a lot and the times we’ve hit but I didn’t expect anything in the bunch races. We were positive in the pursuit and were looking for a medal at least; first and second were quite far ahead but we deserved bronze, definitely.

“I had three races – the points on Saturday, the scratch and team pursuit on Sunday – and the points was the one I was looking forward to most. It’s more my event and going into it I would’ve been delighted to finish in the top 10.

“It was nice to get a result.”

He continued: “I felt stronger as the race went on. I went into it and raced like I normally do and it took the first 10-15 laps for me to think that I could get a medal, if not win. I got my name on the scoreboard and I went about trying to make sure I could stay there, and I could see it get better.

“Everyone else was starting to get tired but I was staying the same. It took me until I saw my name at the top for my to realise I’d won; I never imagined it.

“It was a mixture of both shock and elation.”

The Woodmill High star paid tribute to Hardie Bikes of Cairneyhill, who he has competed for throughout his fledgling cycling career, and said that his victory was “as much as their win as it is mine”.

He added: “Everyone’s been delighted for me and it has been a good start to the year. I was out in Apeldoorn in Holland two or three weeks ago with GB and I had two days on the track there.

“I competed in four or five races and won the team pursuit so it has been a good start to 2017.

“I’m going to have a bit of downtime this week from racing but I’ve got the road season coming up, which starts at the end of February.

“I hope I can make a big impact on that this year.”